Chandigarh, Aug 19 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the Assistant DGFT in the Office of Joint Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in Haryana’s Panipat in connection with a bribery case, probe agency officials said.
The CBI registered the case immediately on Wednesday against the accused.
It was alleged that the accused had demanded a bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant for clearing the deficiency and processing Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) authorisation file in respect of the client of the complainant.
The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused public servant while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant.
The accused will be produced before the designated CBI Court in Panchkula.
“The searches are underway at the residence and office premises of the accused. Investigation is continuing,” the CBI added.
Last month, the central probe agency conducted searches at multiple locations in Chandigarh and Ludhiana in connection with the misappropriation of funds from IDFC First Bank accounts of Chandigarh Smart City Ltd (CSCL) and Municipal Corporation Chandigarh.
The searches were conducted at five locations, including residential premises, business establishments of suspected beneficiaries of the defrauded funds belonging to the Municipal Corporation and CSCL, former accountant Anubhav Mishra, and private entities connected with the investigation.
During the searches, various incriminating documents and articles were recovered and seized. These include digital evidence like storage drives, digital signatures, property-related documents, financial records, multiple electronic devices and other documents relevant to the investigation.
The seized documents and electronic records are being examined and analysed as part of the ongoing investigation.
The CBI had taken over the investigation from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Haryana at the request of the state government.
The fraud relating to Haryana State Pollution Control Board forms part of a larger banking fraud at the IDFC First Bank branch in Sector-32 in Chandigarh, wherein government funds amounting to around Rs 504 crore belonging to eight departments of the Haryana government were allegedly siphoned off through forged and non-existent fixed deposits and fraudulent debit transactions and subsequently routed through shell entities.
–IANS
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